As inflation and labor market pressures persist, CFOs are scaling back wage growth plans, with Gartner finding only 61% of finance leaders are planning compensation increases of 4% or more in 2025, down from 86% in 2023 -- a 29% drop in just two years. This shift suggests growing concern among finance chiefs about cost containment and how they're prioritizing cost discipline over talent spend, particularly as CFOs navigate an unpredictable economy.

Technology spend is vastly outpacing compensation growth, and joins a long list of areas where finance leaders expect to increase spending. Nearly half (47%) of CFOs said they plan to increase technology budgets in 2025 by 10% or more. Anticipated increases in external services, cost of goods sold, staff headcount, contractors and facilities are also outpacing average compensation growth, according to Gartner data.

Both hourly wages and salaried staff costs are worrying CFOs. Half (50%) of those surveyed said they are moderately or very concerned about managing hourly wage increases in 2025, and 40% expressed similar concerns around salaried staff costs. Expectations around salary, particularly among younger employees, have created an environment where new hires expect more while internal talent may feel underpaid, pressuring finance leaders to manage rising costs on both fronts.

Though executives across industries have reiterated that AI initiatives are not intended to replace people, those deploying AI-powered technologies in finance are starting to report productivity gains. Nearly 4 in 10 (37%) of finance teams said using traditional AI delivered high productivity benefits, while more than a third (34%) said generative AI yielded similar results.

Still, the time saved with these tools may not yet translate to measurable ROI. Respondents reported saving an average of 5.4 hours per week through AI, but survey data showed that 0.8 hours of that was spent redoing AI-generated work, highlighting the continuing need for human oversight.